The worst case scenario is the thing that keeps you up at night, staring at the ceiling in dismay as your thoughts spiral out of control.
It’s the thing you never thought of, but once you notice it, it’s impossible to ignore. It creeps and slithers through the recesses of your mind, expanding into your bloodstream until the fear has hold of your heart.
No matter how unlikely it is, it’s the thing you’re convinced will happen. The inevitability of it all terrifies you.
It’s the thing you can’t make your loved ones understand. While they shrug and tell you not to worry, you’re imagining death and destruction, failure and shame. They talk about something else while your mind is still whirring, still caught in the grip of your worries. You smile and your insides turn to stone.
You tell yourself it’s irrational. You tell yourself it will never happen. You tell yourself you’re just being silly.
And the little voice whispers: What if I’m right?
You chip away at the thought, dissecting it from every angle, getting deeper and deeper towards the heart of the problem.
You remember the last time you felt this way, when your fears were realised. You tell yourself you only feel like this because your intuition knows the worst case scenario is more reality than fear.
And you forget about all the times your worries came to nothing.
Until you emerge from the grip of your anxiety and blink at the brightness of the light. While you wonder at the small joys of the world around you, a world not gripped by fear, your doubts and insecurities shrivel and drift away on the wind.
But the kernel of uncertainty remains buried at your core, waiting for the next hint of worry to take control.